At Southside, we believe the Bible is the only adequate guide for the faith and practice of Christians. We call people to learn and affirm the Scriptures in their entirety. We have no formal creed, catechism or statement of faith. Our core teachings represent what we believe the Scriptures teach on core matters of Christian faith. It is designed to help you become better acquainted with the preaching and teaching emphases you are likely to encounter at Southside.

Our core teachings are centered in Christ and his message. There is nothing new in these teachings. Anyone familiar with historic Christian doctrine will recognize that our core teachings are derived directly from the gospel of Jesus Christ.

About God

We believe there is one true holy God, eternally existing in three equal persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In the beginning, God demonstrated His power, wisdom and goodness by creating the world and everything in it. Through His divine power and providence, God continues to sustain His creation, operating within history to fulfill His redemptive purposes.

The central purpose of God’s revelation in Scripture is to call humanity into fellowship with Him. Originally created in God’s image to be in relationship with Him, humans defied Him by going their own independent way, resulting in alienation from Him and a flawed nature. This fall took place at the beginning of human history; all people since have fallen short of God’s glory and are in need of His saving grace.

Genesis 1:27 Psalm 8:3-6 Isaiah 53:6a Romans 3:23

About Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ, the eternal second person of the Godhead, was fully united with a human nature by a miraculous conception and virgin birth. He lived in perfect obedience to the Father, voluntarily paid the price for the sins of all people by dying on the cross as their substitute, and satisfied divine justice bringing salvation to all who trust in Him alone.

After his physical death, Jesus Christ rose from the dead and ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father as the only intercessor between God and humans. He promises to return to claim all those who belong to him and fulfill God’s eternal plan.

The salvation of humanity is completely a work of God’s free grace; it is not in any way the result of human works or goodness. Salvation is participation in Jesus Christ. Each person can vicariously share in Christ’s sacrifice, resurrection and righteousness and receive a new unblemished life through faith in Jesus Christ as God’s offer of forgiveness, righteousness and eternal life.

Authentic faith results in repentance, which is a vow of the heart to turn from a self-seeking, self-determined and self-reliant life to a life of trusting submission to Christ as Savior and Lord, and is expressed affirmatively in confession of faith in Christ and baptism into Christ. Romans 6:23 Ephesians 2:8-9 John 14:6; 1:12 Titus 3:5 Galatians 3:26-27 Romans 5:1 Acts 2:38 Romans 10:9-10

About Human Destiny

Death seals the eternal destiny of each person. All humanity will experience a resurrection and a judgment that will determine the fate of each individual.

Those that have faithfully submitted to Jesus Christ will be received into eternal communion with God. Those that have refused Jesus Christ will suffer eternal condemnation apart from Him. Matt. 25:31-46 Mark 16:15-16

About the Holy Spirit

People in a saving relationship with Jesus Christ are to live in holiness and obedience as they submit to the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead. Sent by the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit applies Christ’s saving work by enlightening the minds of sinners to their need to be saved.

He renews and indwells each believer upon salvation becoming their source of assurance, strength, wisdom and gifting for building up the church. The Holy Spirit guides believers in understanding and applying the Bible.

Appropriated by faith, His power and control empower believers to lead a life of Christ-like character and bear fruit for the Father’s glory.

The process of spiritual growth into a Christ-like character is called transformation. Although reborn and in possession of a high calling, Christians do not immediately lose the desire to be autonomous and follow their own will. Consequently, Christians often miss the mark and fall short of reflecting the image of Christ. Fortunately, remaining justified before God is not a matter of being good enough. It is not achieving perfection that keeps Christians saved, but that Christians participate vicariously in a perfect Savior through faith.

However, this aspect of God’s grace must be handled responsibly. Christians are not free to cynically indulge the sinful nature. The vow of submission to Christ must be lived out with integrity. This means Christians must make every effort to listen and yield to the Holy Spirit to receive the instruction, discipline, power and motivation to become ever more like Jesus Christ.

The Spirit uses various instrumentalities to transform Christians into Christ-likeness through the spiritual life and treasures that are in the body of Christ, his church. These include the power of the written Word, prayer, the various spiritual disciplines and the circumstances of life.

All who submit to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord are united with Him as members of His body, the church. God calls forth the new humanity he created in Christ to participate in Christ’s redemptive life and work as a community. As a community bearing the image of Christ, the church is to be separated from the world in terms of perspective, priorities and behavior, but in the world in terms of influence.

The church is to be a light to the world so the world can see the effect of God’s goodness, grace and transforming power in Christ. The church is also to be the salt of the earth bringing relief to those suffering from the sin consequences of strife, injustice, poverty, prejudice, selfishness, immorality and despair. As the present incarnation of Christ, the church is to carry forward his work and encourage others to partake of him.

The local expression of the church is wherever Christians meet regularly for worship, prayer, fellowship, teaching, equipping, mutual support and outreach.

The Bible is God’s Word to us. It was written by human authors under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Because it is inspired by God, it is truth without any mixture of error and is the authoritative standard for all Christian faith and life.